“Hello? Jansen? It’s Okara.” Okara’s voice drifted through the Panacea until the blue skinned head of Jansen appear from within the small lab attached to the clinic. Jansen held up a finger to indicate that she should wait and turned back towards whatever held his attention in the lab. Okara nodded at his turned back and leaned against the rough wood frame of Panacea’s wall. A cool morning breeze pressed her white linen shirt against her skin, still a little damp from a sunrise cleaning.

“So, the Konti finally comes to join me in keeping these people in one piece! Are you feeling ready to get started?” Jansen called as he finished his task and strolled towards the blonde woman. He stopped a few feet from her and placed his hands nonchalantly on his hips, a friendly smile spreading across his face. “This can be a tough but rewarding post. Don’t get worried Okara, it’s not unmanageable. The hard part is that we are really on our own out here and we can’t assume James and his ship will bring us everything we need. So when we aren’t with patients we will be working to keep our supplies well stocked. We tend to have enough time to keep up though, there aren’t that many of us living out here and luckily the people here aren’t breaking their legs every day.”

“I’m grateful to hear that. I imagine broken legs every day might slow down the work a bit. What kinds of ailments do you commonly see in the settlement?” Okara inquired. She returned Jansen’s smile and felt herself becoming more at ease with the tall, sturdy man. He had a kind and understanding quality to his mannerisms that was very disarming. She supposed it served him well as a doctor.

“Oh all the typical things plus a few illnesses I had only read about until I came here. Falyndar is not short on creativity, that is certain. But let’s not worry about the particulars of that. It’s best to take it one patient at a time unless you start to notice a pattern that might indicate a wider problem. How much experience do you have working with patients? Have you had to bandage anyone before?” Jansens waved away Okara’s question with a languid wrist flick before beckoning her to follow him to a nearby counter. The counter held rolls of bandages, various tools laid out on a metal tray, and some jugs of clean water securely corked to keep out insects and dirt. Jansen grabbed a roll of bandages before turning back to Okara.

“Well…. I really don’t have much experience to speak of. Not formally anyways. My only real patients have been healing my younger sisters’ scraped knees and dealing with my own minor accidents. I have spent some time studying at the Opal Temple though.” Okara’s smile turned sheepish and she wondered if Jansen would regret taking her on as an apprentice. She would have to work hard to prove that she could do the work asked of her. She was determined to not let the man down, Syka clearly needed every one of it’s residents to work hard in order for the whole community to be successful.

“Well that’s not quite what I had hoped you would say but at least you haven’t had the chance to learn any bad habits. Unlearning bad habits is far harder than learning good new habits.” Jansen words were serious but not reproachful. Okara was relieved that he didn’t seem to upset at being saddled with an inexperienced employee. “Now I want you to show me how you would bandage someone’s arm. Use mine to try it out.”

Okara accepted the roll of bandages that Jansen held out and inspected the Akalak’s blue forearm quietly. She was well aware that she was being tested and she wanted to show that she could handle a simple task. Unwrapping a few inches of cloth from the roll she held one end to Jansen’s arm and began to slowly unroll it around his forearm, around and around a few times until the skin was covered and then used a pin to hold it in place. Jansen examined the bandages and then flexed his arm this way and that which caused the fabric to begin to loosen and slide around.

“It’s too loose. And if you were bandaging a serious wound it would bleed through quickly and need to be rebandaged. You need to bandage tighter and make sure you cover the wound in enough layers. The bandage isn’t just there to protect a wound from the elements, it helps slow the bleeding until the body can make a nice clot and scab. Try again.” Jansen explained and shook off the bandage Okara had wrapped around him.

Okara nodded with her lips pressed in a firm line and her eyebrows beginning to knit together, absorbing his criticism. She wrapped the bandages much more aggressively this time around Jansen’s blue arm, looping it again and again until the shape of his forearm was swallowed in bandage. The determined Konti pinned it tightly and smiled up at the tall healer.

“Not bad, not bad. You definitely got it nice and tight, however you may have went a little overboard with the bandages now. Let’s not be wasteful. You will get the perfect pressure and amount of bandage with time. It just takes practice. If you don’t have a healer’s kit yet see if you can pick one up at the Mercantile. Practice bandaging yourself figure out how tight is still comfortable without it coming loose.” Jansen explained as he surveyed the marshmallow of bandages around his arm. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and motioned for Okara to stand beside him as he quickly pulled the bandages from his arm. “Okay, here comes our first patient of the day. Since this is your first time I will take the lead and I want you to watch how I conduct the exam.”

Okara stood and watched as a shapely woman walked up to the open doorway of the Panacea. The stranger’s movements seemed fluid, almost like the liquid form of a woman approaching them. Only a hand moving down to scratch an annoying itch on her thigh assured Okara that she was made of flesh with all it’s typical properties.

“Hello there Rainmere. What brings you in today? Burn yourself?” Jansen said with a joking grin to greet the woman. The woman rolled her eyes but smiled in good humor as she came to stop before the two healers, still scratching at her thighs. “Rainmere, meet Okara. She’s my new apprentice. Okara, this is Rainmere. She likes to dance and play with fire, I’m sure you will get an opportunity to see it sometime.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. How can we assist you today?” Okara greeted the woman with a nod and her usual soft smile. A dancer, no wonder her movements seemed like water.

“Well I was watching the sun go down last night on the beach and ended up falling asleep on the sand. I woke up with these red spots that itch like crazy. Can you take care of it?” Rainmere’s eyebrows scrunched as she itched at her forearm. Okara’s gaze traveled along the woman’s exposed skin and she noticed the red spots on her feet, calves, thighs, and even her along her arms and shoulders.

“Ahh, sounds like sand fleas had a bit of a feast on you. We can take care of them quickly enough though we will need to examine the bites to ensure none of the fleas have burrowed into your skin. They do that from time to time.” Jansen explained, as much for Okara’s benefit as for Rainmere’s. Rainmere nodded and promptly untied her dress, letting it fall to the ground so the healers could examine her body.

Jansen pressed his fingers lightly to her arm and began to move them across her skin where the bites were, the red spots vanishing as he passed from the power of his gnosis. His eyes quickly examined each bite before his fingers passed over it. He worked quickly and professionally along the woman’s body until he let out a tutting noise and turned his attention to Okara.

“Here, we have a burrower. Hand me that small forceps, would you Okara?” The Akalak healer turned towards her and then pointed at a long-handled tweezers on a counter. Okara nodded and quickly fetched the item, pressing it into Jansen’s waiting hand.

“See, this black mark in the center of the bite is how we know we have a burrower. Since this happened so recently we should be able to pop it out easily. Here, this is how it’s done.” Jansen spoke quietly as he gestured at a red spot on the back of Rainmere’s calf that had a black dot in the center. He placed a finger on either side of the spot and pulled the skin tight then used the tip of the forceps to gently scrap away the skin around the black dot until a little white began to show. Jansen used the tip again to pry against one side of the burrowed, white flea until he was able to pop out half of its body. He swiftly reinserted the forceps into the small cavity and popped out the remainder of the flea body. His fingers quickly closed the small wound and left fresh, healthy skin behind. The Akalak finished examining and healing the remainder of the flea bites quickly, finding no other ticks buried in Rainmere’s skin.

“Thanks Jansen. I appreciate that, it’s such a relief to have the itching over.” Rainmere said with a happy sigh, plucking up her dress and retying it around her body. She and Jansen shook hands with promise of appropriate payment then took her leave. Jansen watched her go silently and waited until she was out of ear shot before turning to Okara.

“Sand flea bites are a common problem, they are pretty active at night and sometimes make a nice dinner of our residents if they aren’t taking the proper precautions to protect themselves. The bites fade with time, mostly they just itch like crazy. It’s those burrowed ones you have to look out for. They can cause a pretty nasty infection if they aren’t taken care of right away. What are signs of an infection in the skin?” Jansen quizzed Okara, who could only shrug as her cheeks reddened at her own ignorance.

“Signs of infection in the skin are further redness around the injury, pus leaking from the wound, swelling, increased pain, and a fever when it starts to get even worse. You gotta make sure to get any fleas out of the skin. And if you do, make sure to use your gnosis or some kind of antiseptic to clean the wound before you close it. You don’t want to trap infection inside.” Jansen explained and Okara nodded vigorously, not entirely sure how she felt about the prospect of popping insects out of cavities of people’s bodies. But then again, there was no beautiful kind of illness or injury. She knew healers must work with whatever problem is presented to them, no matter how distasteful the issue might seem.

“Well we will need to clean these forceps. Generally it’s best to wipe off the instruments and then soak them in boiling water for a while. Gets them nice and clean. Those bandages we were using to practice will need to be boiled as well.” Jansen explained as Okara vigorously nodded. She began to think if she spent much more of her day nodding she would end up having to heal her own headache. A knock on the door frame drew their attention.

“I’ll get this cleaned up. You see to our next patient.” Jansen squeezed Okara’s shoulder to reassure her. The Konti turned towards the man at the door as Jansen gathered up the dirty things and disappeared into the lab which was still within earshot if she ran into trouble.

“Hi, I’m new the apprentice Okara. How can I assist you?” Okara flashed the man a toothy smile as he approached her. She noticed the man was holding his hand up against his chest and she guessed it had something to do with why he was visiting the Panacea.

“Nice to meet you Okara. I’m Lars, I run the sawmill north of town. I got this huge sliver stuck in my palm. Usually it’s not a big deal and I can handle it on my own but when I tried to remove it, it broke and now it’s all under the skin.” Lars explained and held out his hand for Okara toinspect.

Okara grasped the extended hand gently and examined his palm. She could see a ragged scrape that appeared to be the point of entry and a jagged raised line beneath his skin that was clearly the splinter. Almost more of a stick then a little splinter though Okara kept that observation toherself.

“Well I can remove the splinter and get you healed up real quick.” Okara smiled soothingly up into Lars’ serious face. She looked towards the counter and examined the tools laid out on the metal tray. The Konti healer picked up a small forceps and grasped Lars’ hand again. She tried to gently press on the far end of the splinter so that she might push it forward and grasp the edge with the forceps but it didn’t want to budge. She pressed a few more times before noticing the grimace on Lars’ face, clearly her patient was not enjoying her method of treatment.

Okara next grabbed a small needle from the arrayed tools to try a different method. She carefully insert the tip into the scrape where the splinter had entered and gently lifted up on the skin. She lifted carefully until she could insert the forceps into the tiny opening and firmly grasped thesplinter. She drew it out carefully, wary that she might break it off again inside his skin. Holding the small piece of wood aloft in triumph, Okara examined Lars’ palm with the tips of her fingers and could feel nothing left behind. With her touch, the healing power of her gnosis quickly disinfected and closed the small wound. Okara released his hand so Lars could inspect her handiwork.

“Looks good as new. I better get back to work and put this hand to use. Jansen? We’ll talk cost later?” Lars said, already turning away with his mind elsewhere. Okara watched him go as a blue hand waved from the lab in acknowledgement of the human male’s words.

“Okara? Bring any tools you used in here and let’s get them cleaned up.” Jansen called and Okara obediently brought the needle and forceps back to the small room. The lab was cozy, to put it politely, and there was just enough room for Jansen and Okara to stand comfortably beside each other amongst the equipment and supplies. Her green eyes swept over the glassware of his philtering set and the carefully labeled bottles and drawers of medicines and herbs. The Akalak had a large glass beaker filled with water bubbling over a small oil fueled flame. Jansen motioned for Okara to drop the tools in which she complied with a little too quickly, wincing as she splashed a few drops of hot water on the back of her hand.

“Everything has to be cleaned thoroughly after every use. As I said before, leaving things in boiling water seems to be the best way to clean them. Do wipe them off first if you can visibly see things sticking to the tools, won’t be much use to clean them with gobs of blood and gristle floating around in there.” Jansen explained as Okara watched the tools bob in the bubbles near the bottom of the beaker. After a few chimes, the Akalak motioned towards a tong which Okara used to fish out the tools and laid them across a clean towel to dry.

“Well, that’s all nicely done. As an apprentice, keeping this place and everything in clean will be one of your responsibilities. Come along and I will show you how I like the cots laid out.” Jansen turned off the small flame and headed towards the main room for patient. Okara followed closely on his heels, wondering what else may walk through the Panacea door at any moment.